Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC3080 Elliot Water, Angus ('Dunhead')

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

HER:  Angus SMR per Aberdeenshire Council NO54SE0007 (None)

NMR:  NO 54 SE 7 (34709)

SM:  None

NGR:  NO 5775 4171

X:  357750  Y:  741710  (OSGB36)

Summary

What may be a fortification is situated on a steepsided promntory at the confluence of the Black Burn with the Elliot Water. First identified as part of a Roman Camp in the 19th century (NSA, xi, Forfar, 358), and depicted on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Forfar1865, sheet 45.12), subsequent visits by O G S Crawford (1949, 138) and RCAHMS in 1956, concluded that most of the visible remains were field boundaries, but on the SE a bank up to 5.8m in thickness by 1.5m in height was observed cutting across the neck of the promontory. The bank, however, was accompanied on its E side by a ditch 3m broad and 0.3m deep, thus lying on its inner side, and though one OS surveyor in 1958 thought he could detect a kerb and a scatter of stones belonging to an inner rampart, a second surveyor in 1966 could see no trace of these. No fieldwork has been conducted since, but if indeed a promontory enclosure, measurements taken from the 1st edition OS 25-inch map indicate that the bank and ditch bar the W approaches to an area measuring about 120m from E to W by 30m transversely (0.28ha). No features have been noted within the interior, which is back under dense deciduous woodland.

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Unconfirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Unconfirmed

Location

X:  -299349  Y:  7671823  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -2.6890970751555856  Latitude:  56.56549303318321  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Angus

Historic County:  Angus

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Carmyllie

Monument Condition

None

Condition:
Extant   ✓
Cropmark   ✗
Likely Destroyed   ✗

Land Use

None

Current Use:
Woodland   ✓
Commercial Forestry Plantation   ✗
Parkland   ✗
Pasture (Grazing)   ✗
Arable   ✗
Scrub/Bracken   ✗
Bare Outcrop   ✗
Heather/Moorland   ✗
Heath   ✗
Built-up   ✗
Coastal Grassland   ✗
Other   ✗

Landscape

Hillfort Type

None

Type:
Contour Fort   ✗
Partial Contour Fort   ✗
Promontory Fort   ✓
Hillslope Fort   ✗
Level Terrain Fort   ✗
Marsh Fort   ✗
Multiple Enclosure Fort   ✗

Topographic Position

Position:
Hilltop   ✗
Coastal Promontory   ✗
Inland Promontory   ✓
Valley Bottom   ✗
Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop   ✗
Ridge   ✗
Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp   ✗
Hillslope   ✗
Lowland   ✗
Spur   ✗

Dominant Topographic Feature:  None

Aspect:
North   ✗
Northeast   ✗
East   ✗
Southeast   ✗
South   ✗
Southwest   ✗
West   ✗
Northwest   ✗
Level   ✓

Altitude:  90.0m

Boundary

N/A


Dating Evidence

In the absence of excavation, there are neither stratified artefacts nor radiocarbon dates to provide a chronology for the defences.

Reliability:  D - None

Principal Activity:
Pre 1200BC   ✗
1200BC - 800BC   ✗
800BC - 400BC   ✗
400BC - AD50   ✗
AD50 - AD400   ✗
AD400 - AD 800   ✗
Post AD800   ✗
Unknown   ✓

Other Activity:
Pre Hillfort:   None
Post Hillfort:   Planted with trees

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

None

Investigations:
1st Identified Written Reference (1754):   Sketched by Robert Melville (Crawford 1949, 138)
Other (1833):   Noted (NSA, xi, Forfar, 358)
1st Identified Map Depiction (1859):   Annotated Roman Camp in Roman type on the 1st edition OS 25-inch map (Forfar1865, sheet 45.12)
Other (1943):   Description by OGS Crawford (1949, 138)
Other (1956):   Description for RCAHMS Survey of Marginal Lands
Other (1958):   Visited by the OS
Other (1966):   Resurveyed at 1:2500

Interior Features

Featureless

Water Source

None

Source:
None   ✓
Spring   ✗
Stream   ✗
Pool   ✗
Flush   ✗
Well   ✗
Other   ✗

Surface

None

Interior Features (Surface):
No Known Features   ✓
Round Stone Structures   ✗
Rectangular Stone Structures   ✗
Curvilinear Platforms   ✗
Other Roundhouse Evidence   ✗
Pits   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗

Excavation

None

Interior Features (Excavation):
No Known Excavation   ✓
Pits   ✗
Postholes   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗
Nothing Found   ✗

Geophysics

None

Interior Features (Geophysics):
No Known Geophysics   ✓
Pits   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗
Nothing Found   ✗

Finds

None

Interior (Finds):
No Known Finds   ✓
Pottery   ✗
Metal   ✗
Metalworking   ✗
Human Bones   ✗
Animal Bones   ✗
Lithics   ✗
Environmental   ✗
Other   ✗

Aerial

Obscured by trees

Interior Features (Aerial):
APs Not Checked   ✗
None   ✓
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Pits   ✗
Postholes   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Other   ✗

Entrances

See main summary

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
0:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None known

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:No related records

Enclosing Works

Single bank and ditch

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.28ha.
Total:   0.28ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   0
SE Quadrant:   0
SW Quadrant:   0
NW Quadrant:   1
Total:   1

Morphology

Current Morphology:
Partial Univallate   ✓
Univallate   ✗
Partial Bivallate   ✗
Bivallate   ✗
Partial Multivallate   ✗
Multivallate   ✗
Unknown   ✗

Detailed Morphology:
Partial Univallate   ✗
Univallate   ✗
Partial Bivallate   ✗
Bivallate   ✗
Partial Multivallate   ✗
Multivallate   ✗

Surface Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Surface):
None   ✗
Earthen Bank   ✓
Stone Wall   ✗
Rubble   ✗
Wall-walk   ✗
Evidence of Timber   ✗
Vitrification   ✗
Other Burning   ✗
Palisade   ✗
Counter Scarp Bank   ✗
Berm   ✗
Unfinished   ✗
Other   ✗

Excavated Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Excavation):
None   ✗
Earthen Bank   ✗
Stone Wall   ✗
Murus Duplex   ✗
Timber-framed   ✗
Timber-laced   ✗
Vitrification   ✗
Other Burning   ✗
Palisade   ✗
Counter Scarp Bank   ✗
Berm   ✗
Unfinished   ✗
No Known Excavation   ✓
Other   ✗

Other

Gang Working:
✗   None

Ditches:
✓   None

Number of Ditches:  1

Annex:
✗   None

References

Crawford, O G S (1949) Topography of Roman Scotland north of the Antonine Wall. Cambridge

NSA (1834-1845) The new statistical account of Scotland by the ministers of the respective parishes under the superintendence of a committee of the society for the benefit of the sons and daughters of the clergy. Edinburgh.



Terms of Use

This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 and should be cited as:

Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk


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